Other cities across the country are really stepping up their game, making their pitch to become the test site for an ultra high-speed fiber optic network that would be set up by search engine giant Google. The city of Topeka, Kansas temporarily changed its name to Google, Kansas. Duluth, Minnesota responded, saying (jokingly) that every first-born male in the city would now be named “Google Fiber,” while first-born females would be named “Googlette Fiber.”
We reported this week about what Little Rock is doing to land the network, which would bring internet speeds of up to 100 times that of a typical connection. Little Rock meets Google’s requirements, as far as Randy Foshee, IT director for the city, can tell. I saw city manager Bruce Moore yesterday and asked him about the city’s efforts to apply. He said he still had some questions, but that city officials were looking into it. Business leaders in the community say the network would be a boon to local enterprises, would incentivize high-tech industries to locate here and put Little Rock on the map. That may be true, but at this point, the city needs to come up with something better than saying, “We’re looking into it.”
BY THE WAY: Google is encouraging citizens to participate. To find out more follow this link.